a new general caught up in the petraeus affair. the man running the war in afghanistan and what we learned today about the woman in tampa behind the new headlines. what went wrong? congressman paul ryan speaking out with our jonathan karl about mitt romney, that long campaign, that tough defeat. tonight, an abc news exclusive. high anxiety. an athlete struck by fear at the biggest moment of his career. a crippling anxiety millions of americans share. how did he turn his panic attack into an incredible triumph? >> whoo! and wild things. the new way boomers are keeping their lives revved up. good evening. as we come on the air, the

investigation is widening in the general david petraeus scandal, and now it includes another general, general john allen, entrusted with nothing less than winding down the nation's war in afghanistan. you should know at any given moment, there are fewer than 50 four-star generals around the globe for the united states, and they are the elite of the elite. tonight, two of the most formidable, one active duty, one retired, are in the heat of the spotlight, and martha raddatz tells us what happened today. martha? >> reporter: diane, the consequences of dave petraeus' infidelity are astonishing. the nation is left without him as its cia director and the commander of our forces in afghanistan caught up in this bizarre web, as well. it is breathtaking. within days, two four-star generals so widely respected in the midst of scandal. first, david petraeus and now general john allen being investigated for sending what the pentagon said were

"potentially inappropriate" messages, putting on hold his likely promotion to become the supreme allied commander in europe. >> of course, it weighs on him as much as it weighs on dave petraeus. i believe that dave is very, very sad for what he admitted he did. >> reporter: at the center of this web, jill kelley, the tampa socialite and honorary military ambassador, living near the centcom headquarters where petraeus and allen were once based. officials say it was early this summer that kelley received anonymous e-mails, accusing her of flaunting her friendly relationships with top military brass. the fbi traced those e-mails back to paula broadwell's computer where they discovered the evidence of broadwell's affair with david petraeus. but it doesn't stop there. abc news has learned that general allen also received an anonymous e-mail traced to paula broadwell, painting jill kelley as a seductress.

a further look by the fbi into kelley's e-mails revealed hundreds between kelley and general allen, 20,000 to 30,000 pages of communications in all. but a source familiar with the e-mails say they contain no evidence of a sexual relationship, something allen supporting what allen said. instead they're described as friendly, perhaps flirtatious but routine mostly about meetings with ambassadors and dinner parties. in one note kelley tells the general she saw him on tv. he responds, "thanks, dear, you're a sweetheart." many e-mails were from kelley to general allen's wife. the two couples were good friends. >> until someone proves otherwise, i believe that he did nothing inappropriate. >> reporter: and today the white house made clear the president still has faith in general allen, but the petraeus case is an entirely different matter. late last night federal agents descended on the home of his mistress, paula broadwell, gathering more material

including a desktop computer, making sure she doesn't hold any classified information. and dave petraeus, once such a public hero, now forced into the shadows. while there is plenty of anger over petraeus' behavior with paula broadwell, the overwhelming reaction i have heard from troops is one of sadness mixed with pride for his years of leadership and hardship, diane, in this nation's wars. >> thank you so much, martha, for all your reporting on this. but what about that woman in tampa martha mentioned who is front and center in the headlines? she is a wife and mother, jill kelley, and abc's chief investigative correspondent brian ross set out to learn how she forged such a close relationship with the general. >> reporter: as the home of the u.s. central command and the special operations command, access to the macdill air force base in tampa is closely guarded, but 37-year-old tampa socialite jill kelley, with no

official military ties has had easy access over the years to the country's most powerful general stationed there. >> jill is known as a gracious hostess, a vivacious individual. >> reporter: this picture was taken two years ago at a party at the kelley home showing jill's twin sister, natalie, general petraeus, jill's husband scott, jill and the general's wife holly. >> there was no question they were friends and no reason why they wouldn't be friends. >> reporter: but kelley, who spent the day at her home in tampa, and her twin sister are also known by some detractors as name droppers and social climbers, who once appeared on a reality tv cooking program. as jill kelley stared out the window of her home today, a television program about the "peyton place"-like petraeus sex scandal could be seen in the background. >> let me assure you, tampa bay is the farthest thing you can imagine from "peyton place." >> reporter: despite her lavish entertaining, court documents

reviewed by abc news show that jill kelley and her husband have been sued at least nine times and face foreclosure on their home. her twin sister, natalie, has her own legal and financial problems and lost custody of her son in a contentious divorce proceeding, in which both petraeus, as head of the cia, and general allen, running the war in afghanistan, took the time to write letters on her behalf. but friends and family say as outgoing as jill kelley may have been with her friends, the generals, it never crossed the line to romance. >> she is very dedicated to her husband and to her kids. for anybody to paint her other than that is completely wrong. >> reporter: even so, jill kelley has now hired one of washington's top criminal defense lawyers best known for defending former senator john edwards and is now represented by the same publicist who once handled the media for monica lewinsky, diane. >> all right, brian, quite a team there. >> you can see so much more of brian's reporting tonight on "nightline."

we move next to an abc news exclusive. congressman paul ryan speaking out in his first network television interview about mitt romney, the big campaign, the tough election defeat. one week ago, millions of americans saw his name on the ballot running for vice president of the united states. tonight, abc's jonathan karl sits down with him to ask why did they lose? how did it go wrong on election night? >> reporter: how much of a shock was it? >> well, you know, we thought we had a very good chance of winning. you know, the polling and the data and all the people who are the smart people who watch this stuff, they had a pretty optimistic view on the night, and so going into boston that day, we felt like we had a pretty darn good chance of winning, so, as you can imagine, it was a bit of a shock when we didn't win. >> reporter: you were the running mate. was that the campaign paul ryan would have run? >> oh, gosh. you know, i think when you join a ticket three months out, you join somebody's campaign.

i was really impressed with the way mitt and ann brought us into the fold, so i was very encouraged by that. i really enjoyed it, and i wanted to run a big campaign on ideas. we did that. we ran on ideas. >> reporter: "saturday night live" poked fun at ryan, a native of janesville, wisconsin, for failing to help romney win his home state. >> mother sent me to come get you, father. >> uh-huh. >> paul ryan is doing feats of strengths in the drawing room. she thought you'd like to see. >> well, i'd like to see him carry wisconsin! [ laughter ] >> reporter: so what happened in wisconsin? you lost janesville. >> john mccain got 30%. i think we got higher than that. >> a little bit. >> a little bit. janesville has always voted democrat top of the ticket. wisconsin has always voted democrat top of the ticket except for the reagan '84 landslide. so we knew it was an uphill battle but still fought. >> reporter: the president wins 330 some electoral votes, every battleground state with the exception of north carolina. does barack obama now have a

mandate? >> i don't think so because they also re-elected the house republican so whether people intended or not we've got divided government. >> reporter: you don't think there is a mandate here? >> i don't because then they would have put nancy pelosi in charge of the house of representatives. i think these ideas we talked see, i think these ideas we talked about are popular ideas. this was a close election. and unfortunately, divided government didn't work very well the last two years. we have to make sure it works in the next two years. that means i think both parties have to talk to each other. >> reporter: could you see supporting a plan that raises tax rates? >> i'm not for raising tax rates. >> reporter: you won't support a plan? >> i don't want to get into that but i don't support raising tax rates. >> reporter: period? >> yeah. i've been saying that my entire career. >> reporter: diane sawyer asked speaker boehner if you were now the de facto leader of the republican party, and his answer was -- >> oh, i wouldn't think so, paul ryan is a policy wonk. >> i take that as a great compliment from john. >> reporter: is that your role

now in the republican party, policy wonk? >> i've always been one of the house policy wonks. my role is to continue to be a champion of ideas and help our party be the reform party that shows how we get economic growth. >> reporter: ryan says he unplugged in the days after the campaign. he didn't even hear the news about david petraeus' resignation or questions about its timing until later. instead, he was hunting and spending time with his family. >> you know, the great thing about just this last weekend, i got to go to both my boys' basketball games and two of my daughter's volleyball games. >> reporter: there's an upside to losing. >> an upside to losing, reconnection with my family which is something we've always -- we're a very close family. people got to see our family. i'm excited about getting back to work here. >> reporter: paul ryan's three kids all in elementary school saw a big upside to losing. they get to stay in their school. he told me, they were worried if he won, they would have to move to washington and switch schools. >> a consolation. i know you asked him about 2016. what about it? is he in?

>> reporter: he said it's way too early to even think about running in 2016, but, diane, a lot of republicans say he will be the clear front-runner going into the 2016 battle for the republican presidential nomination. >> all right, jonathan karl, an interview with paul ryan. thank you, jon. overseas in italy, the beautiful regions of tuscany are saturated. at least three people have died as heavy rain and wind caused rivers to surge past their banks. and take another look at venice. that city, under water now, kayaks instead of gondolas and tourists taking refuge on benches hoisting their luggage aloft. the floodwaters though we can report are finally receding tonight. back here at home we told you last night about families still suffering living without power now 15 days after hurricane sandy including thousands on long island. the long island power authority has come under fire accused of

gross negligence. today, new york governor andrew cuomo launched an investigation and vowed to hold them accountable. and with nine days left until thanksgiving, today another kind of thanksgiving tradition. the annual prediction from aaa about how many of us plan to travel this holiday. they say more families will be traveling this year than last. 43.6 million of us will venture at least 50 miles from home and that's up 7% from last year. 90% of the travelers will drive, by the way, and the average thanksgiving travel budget is now $498, down $46 from last year. and still ahead on "world news," an athlete collapses on live television from a crippling anxiety shared by millions of americans. how he turned his panic into triumph next. [ male announcer ] this is joe woods' first day of work.

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>> unfortunate bogey. >> reporter: case in point, charlie beijan. in florida on friday, he staggered through 18 holes on live tv appearing to be in the middle of a medical emergency. >> i thought i was having a heart attack. i felt from the first tee to the 18th. i felt like i was going to pass out but i didn't have a choice. >> reporter: the stakes were huge. his future on the pga tour, his livelihood on the line. >> i told my caddy, i said, we're not leaving here unless i'm getting carted off from the middle of the fairway. >> reporter: no sooner did he finish the round, but the ambulance whisked him away. doctors determined his heart seems to be healthy. turns out he was having a panic attack. the sudden onset of extreme anxiety, causing the body to pump out adrenaline as the "fight or flight" response kicks in. the heart racing uncontrollably. sweating. shortness of breath. 6 million american adults suffer from panic disorders. >> they're symptoms similar to having a heart attack and people

fear that they are dying. >> reporter: under the circumstances, it's remarkable he finished the round. in fact, only later from his hospital bed does he discover how well he did. >> i finally looked at my phone at 10:30, that's when i realized i had a three-shot round. >> reporter: he had to cope his panic at bay. >> i spent more time worrying about, you know, breathing and slowing things down. >> reporter: deep breathing is one way to manage panic attacks and in this case it won him the tournament. >> whoo! >> reporter: other treatments involve valium and drugs not allowed on the pga tour. for now this new father will stick to managing the attacks by trying to stay calm. >> i was fighting for my career, my family, my baby, everything. the mind is much more powerful than the body. >> reporter: a lesson as important in life as it is in golf. david wright, abc news, los angeles. and coming up next, can you guess one of the first lady's favorite tv shows and the

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it becomes just a crescent and then a red halo, and finally it is twilight. the whole thing took about 15 minutes. it was only visible in northern australia, and thanks to our friends there, we can see it on tape here. the next eclipse like this one will come in 2015. and a video tonight from "the brady bunch" keying up some news about you. watch. >> i'm getting itchy all over. >> i'm getting itchy too. >> so am i. >> oh, it's terrible. >> there is a new study from wake forest finding if you see someone feeling itchy, you feel itchy too. it is contagious just like yawning. in fact, if you see someone scratch, it actually lights up part of your brain called the itch matrix, and you can barely resist. and our person in the news tonight, oh, the perks of being first lady. michelle obama is a

self-professed "downton abbey" fan. she could not bear waiting until january 6th for the new season to begin, so she asked the british filmmaker for a copy now. she got it but they begged her and the president not to babble about the twists and turns and spoil it for all the rest of us americans. we want to hear from you. tell us which pictures, people and quotes capture your imagination every day. tell us online at abcnews.com or tweet me @dianesawyer. and coming up, you remember the bad boys of "easy rider." well, meet the new generation of wild things. our nick watt takes a ride. ♪ running head out on the highway ♪ ♪ looking for adventure when we got married. i had three kids. and she became the full time mother of three.

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and finally tonight, the next time you hear the rumbling of a motorcycle gang approaching, take a good look at them. they may be the new breed of adventurers showing every generation how you reinvent the future, and abc's nick watt hitched a ride with the growing tide of boomers revving up their three wheels. >> reporter: beards, chrome, leather vests, more beards and that noise. [ engines firing ] but these fellas aren't bikers, they're trikers saddling up on an easier rider. >> life without your bike is just life, and that's never been enough for us. >> reporter: but when old bones just can't handle two wheels anymore --

>> i wanted to get a harley, but i have a bad leg. different reasons. different hip replacements, different injuries, we go to a trike. >> reporter: as the baby boomer bikers of the '70s are aging, trike sales are through the roof. says were up 45% last year. harley-davidson is even making a three-wheeled model, and many of these beasts, well, they're custom built. >> most of us just want to keep ourselves in the wind. >> reporter: the brothers of the third wheel, a benevolent global "triker" gang, has 7,000 members and counting. there are guys still riding well into their 90s. it's a more laid-back experience than a bike. and riding pillion, i could have fallen asleep if it wasn't for bobbie's pink ponytail flapping in my face. triking keeping the aging and injured on the open road. >> if you don't know the feeling, you know, it's hard to explain. the bugs in your teeth, and, you know, it's just a blast. >> reporter: are you going to ride this thing until you die? >> i will ride until i either get killed or die. >> reporter: born to be wild,

don is refusing to grow old and mild. nick watt, abc news, on the pacific coast highway. >> and here's to the boomers again, and we thank you for watching. we're always here at abcnews.com. "nightline" later, and i'll see you right back here again tomorrow night. good night. tonight a mud flood in a daily city neighborhood. team coverage to show what happened and why. >> plus, michael finney offers advice on the coverage you should have this winter to protect your car and home. >> man on the run. a former silicon valley executive reveals what he's doing to avoid arrest on a murder charge. >> california's atestimonies to slow the pace of global warming.

>> here is what happens when a pipe burst this morning. >> i was like what is going on? >> and sheer what it looked like when that woman went out to get into the car, just a mess, good evening, i'm dan ashry. >> it hit this morning and take a look at the pictures from sky 7 hd as soon as the sun came up. you can see how deeply cars are buried in a wall of mud up to the wheel wells in cases. a neighborhood inundate bid muck. here is where it happened. abc 7 news is live in daily city tonight. leanne is in the